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A portion of Second Street Southwest is planned to be redesigned with distinct features that would orient the stretch, west of Highway 52 to Circle Drive, more to pedestrians and less to speedy automobile travel. The goal is the development of the area as a distinct and modern business district to develop alongside Cascade Lake.

The plan, which has not been finalized by the city public works department, features bump-out street corners, trees, and rain gardens in some portions. It will be safer for pedestrians in that traffic calming measures will be taken and a pedestrian would not need to cross more than 23 feet of open roadway.

“This has been an interesting project in that it has allowed us to consider the ‘what if’,” said city public works director Richard Freese, noting that the plan could be altered to take into consideration the need for several modalities including automobile, bicycle, and even a possible streetcar line. The flexibility comes from using a continuous surface which new lines can be drawn on.

City council representative Michael Wojcik has worked with neighbors and businesses to develop the plan over the last several years said that the area will serve the Country Club Manor neighborhood, which he said is “the largest portion of town that has been amenity starved.”

Capitalizing on the need for road construction on this stretch, businesses in this area and the city hope to create a unique retail environment, distinct in its modern design.

The roadway currently sees approximately 15,000 people pass through it each day, expected to jump to about 20,000 in coming years. The city will attempt to address the increase by creating a mode shift from automobile to bicycle and bus travel.

“When they get downtown, there will be nowhere to put them,” said Freese.

“There’s been a healthy debate,” Freese said of the process that’s brought the project to this stage. “Ultimately, that responsibility (to move the project forward) fell on my shoulders.”

Currently, in the portion of Second Street between 18th Avenue and 23rd Avenue, there are two lanes of traffic going in either direction, with a center turn lane.

Parking will move off the street and back onto side avenues in angle parking and small parking lots. Parking spaces will be reduced from 79 to 51 spaces.

The redesign of the street from 23rd Avenue to Circle Drive will be more simple, going from four lanes to three, one in each direction with a middle turn lane.

The project, expected to cost more than $7 million, will be shared by Rochester and Olmsted County. The county will pay $3.8 million and the city will pay the remainder using a $2.5 million Federal grant and will use sales tax funds and property tax assessments to pay the rest. The Federal funds will not be available if the city does not begin work this year.

Assessments to adjoining property owners for the project include $191 per square foot to redevelop the street and sidewalk. The total assessment will be about $600,000, much less than the city’s practice of assessing 50 percent of the project cost, which would be about $2.1 million, Freese said.

There will be no cost to property owners for water main or sanitary sewer upgrades. Conduit will be buried in preparation for a switch to moving power lines underground. Freese added that the city public works department will coordinate with Rochester Public Utilities to put the lines underground, saying that it’s cheaper to do this now.

31 property owners own 37 pieces of property along this stretch and have been meeting for the last several years with Wojcik to plan the redevelopment when it came time to reconstruct the roadway.

“Just getting traffic to slow down is really going to help a lot,” said Scott Moon, manager of Sergeant’s on Second, “It helps both in terms of safety and creating an ideal place to do business in with people stopping and appreciating the surroundings instead of racing through.”

Moon, noting that he doesn’t pay the assessments, said that he considered them “not out of line.”

Lee Herold, owner of Herold Flags, said that he is concerned by a potential loss of business during construction season.

“It will cut down on sales,” Herold said. “It will be a hit, but in the end it has to be done.”

Bids will be received from contractors in coming months, and the public works department hopes to start on the reconstruction early this summer and finish by November.